Weekend Shutdown for Testing & Cutover of New Signal System between Amityville & Wantagh Wrapping On Time

MTA Long Island Rail Road customers should expect normal weekday service Monday on the Babylon and Montauk branches following the successful weekend testing of a new computerized signal and switch system. Normal weekend service is expected to resume after 10 pm this evening (Sunday) once final testing is complete.

The testing and final cutover of the new signal operation at two critical switching areas in Amityville and Wantagh required a 42-hour suspension of train service over the weekend between Freeport and Babylon. Shuttle buses transported customers between those stations Saturday and today. The cutover project is scheduled for completion at 10 PM this evening. At that time, regular train service will resume. Buses will continue to transport customers between Freeport and Babylon until 10 PM.

The $23 million Amityville-Wantagh Signal Improvement Project replaced old-fashioned relay signal technology with the kind of computer-based system the LIRR has installed at Jamaica Station and other important switching points along its 700 miles of track. The new system is expected to improve service reliability for customers on the Babylon branch, the busiest of the LIRR's 11 branches with an average weekday ridership of 64,390 customers. During the weekend service suspension, LIRR workers cleaned-up the right-of-way west of Babylon station, removing 62 tons of scrap metal, 500 old railroad ties and 32 cubic yards of other debris.